Normanby, Redcar and Cleveland

Summary

Normanby is an area in the borough of Redcar and Cleveland, North Yorkshire, England. A ward covering the area had a population of 6,930 at the 2011 census.[1] It is part of Greater Eston, which includes the area and the outlying settlements of Eston, Grangetown, South Bank, Teesville and part of Ormesby.[2]

Normanby
Normanby High Street
Normanby is located in North Yorkshire
Normanby
Normanby
Location within North Yorkshire
Population6,930 (2011 census. ward)[1]
OS grid referenceNZ555185
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townMIDDLESBROUGH
Postcode districtTS6
Dialling code01642
PoliceCleveland
FireCleveland
AmbulanceNorth East
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Yorkshire
54°33′25″N 1°09′25″W / 54.557°N 1.157°W / 54.557; -1.157

History edit

 
Housing west of Normanby High Street shops

In 1870–72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Normanby like this:

NORMANBY, a village and a township in Ormsby parish, N. R. Yorkshire. The village stands 2 miles (3.2 km) N E of Ormsby r. station, and 4 W N W of Guisborough; and has a post-office under Middlesbrough. The township extends to the coast; and comprises 1, 343 acres of land, and 355 of water. Real property, £7, 949; of which £4,060 are in iron-works. Pop. in 1851, 195; in 1861, 2, 204. Houses, 397. The increase of pop. arose mainly from the opening of extensive ironstone works, and from the establishing of glass furnaces. Norman by Hall is a chief residence. Bricks and tiles are made. There is a national school.

Normanby was historically a township in the ancient parish of Ormesby. A local government district covering the township was created in 1865, governed by a local board.[4] A town hall was built for the district at South Bank in 1878.[5] Such districts were reconstituted as urban districts under the Local Government Act 1894. At the second meeting of the urban district council in January 1895 it voted to change the district's name from Normanby to "South Bank in Normanby", acknowledging that South Bank was the larger settlement within the district.[6] The change of name was confirmed by North Riding County Council in May 1895.[7]

South Bank in Normanby Urban District was abolished in 1915, being absorbed into the neighbouring Eston Urban District, which in turn was abolished in 1968 to become part of the County Borough of Teesside.[8]

Governance edit

Normanby is part of Redcar parliamentary constituency and is represented by Jacob Young (politician) (Conservative Party (UK)) in the House of Commons.[9]

Borough Council edit

In the 2023 local elections, the following members were returned to Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council:[10]

Ward Councillor Party
Normanby Paul McInnes Conservative Party
Normanby Curt Pugh Conservative Party
Normanby Paul Salvin Conservative Party

Flatts Lane Woodland Country Park edit

 
Flatts Lane Woodland Country Park Visitor Centre

Flatts Lane Woodland Country Park[11] is an area of woodland in Normanby, sheltered from the urban sprawl below in the Tees Valley. It provides residents with a place to walk and exercise. It aims to give a 'countryside experience' without a long journey to reach it.

There is a visitors' centre – which stands on the site of the former Normanby Brickworks. Some of the walkways in the park follow the course of the now defunct Cleveland Railway, which served the brickworks. The visitors' centre has exhibits and information about wildlife and conservation, as well as serving as a base for the information-giving Ranger.

The park boasts a variety of habitats, including both deciduous and coniferous woodlands, grassland and ponds. There are plenty of walks throughout the wooded areas of the park, an outdoor exercise area and a children's playground. There is a network of bridleways which cyclists and horseriders are welcome to use.

In the past, Flatts Lane veered from its present route and crossed the land now occupied by the Country Woodland Park. It was used by monks, farmers and traders to carry goods between markets and coastal ports. The cobbled path can still be seen in some places as it runs across the site. Godfalter Hill is a prominent landmark topped by its distinctive beech trees making it visible for miles around.[12]

Flatts Lane Woodland Country Park, in Normanby, is an easy starting point for walks to Eston Nab; the path leading to the high ground of Eston Moor forms a less severe incline than more popular routes from Eston. It is also on the long-distance path called the Tees Link;[13] the path travels along the route of a former railway which served Normanby Brickworks.

Landmarks edit

 
Normanby Hall, in a state of disrepair.
 
Normanby House is now known as the Manor House and serves as a doctors' surgery.

Normanby Hall[14] is a mansion on the western side of Normanby. The manor of Normanby was held at an early period by the de Brus family, of Skelton Castle; and subsequently passed to Marmaduke de Thweng. Later it came into the possession of the Percys, and then, of the Moneys.

At the beginning of the eighteenth century, the estate belonged to William Pennyman, Esq. When he died, in 1718, buried at Eston Church, his daughters Elizabeth and Joanna, married two brothers – Rev. William Consett and Captain Matthew Consett, sons of William Consett of Linthorpe.

The manor lands were split, Reverend William Consett taking the eastern part of the estate, upon which he built the elegant and commodious Normanby House, which became known as the Manor House.[15] The other brother, Captain Matthew Consett, took the part of the manor with the ancient Hall.[16]

The Hall with a moiety of the estate was purchased in 1748, by Ralph Jackson, on the death of Captain Consett. The common fields around it were enclosed, in 1790, to become parkland for the mansion. It descended through the Jackson family, in the late 1880s, to Major Charles Ward-Jackson M.P., who was lord of the manor, and who died in 1930.[17]

In the twentieth century, it came into the hands of Charles Amer, a former jazzband leader (Charles Amer Orchestra), Middlesbrough F.C. Chairman, owner of the Coatham Hotel, in Redcar, the Marton Hotel and Country Club and, later, property developer. Amer later sold the parkland belonging to the Hall and houses were built. The Hall itself, after several years as a retirement home, is now unoccupied and in a state of disrepair.

Eston Cemetery edit

 
CWGC War Graves at Eston Cemetery

Eston Cemetery is one of those places in the area which was probably named at the time of the Eston Urban District Council, which included Normanby. Nevertheless, Eston Cemetery can be said to be in Normanby.

Still in active use, it was established in 1863, enlarged in 1882, and built as an extension to the pre-reformation church of St Helen,[18] which was one of the many churches belonging to Gisborough Priory. St Helen's has since been dismantled and rebuilt at Beamish Museum.[19] Names on the gravestones tell the story of the families whose daily lives created the history of the wider area, throughout the twentieth century until the present.

 
Monument to William Henry Short VC at Eston Cemetery

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission is responsible for commemorating all Commonwealth war dead individually and equally, and to this end, war graves with uniform headstones, set in well kept lawns, can be found in cemeteries throughout the British Commonwealth. The Commission lists ninety-eight such graves,[20] at Eston Cemetery, from the First and Second World Wars.[21]

Having more than 40 war graves, a Cross of Sacrifice designed by architect Reginald Blomfield has been erected. It shows a simple cross embedded with a bronze sword and mounted on an octagonal base to represent the faith of the majority of commemorations. It can be seen in front of the West Lodge.

The cemetery also contains the memorial obelisk to William Henry Short VC (4 February 1884 – 6 August 1916) who was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. He was awarded the medal after being killed showing gallantry and devotion to duty at the Battle of Contalmaison, during the Somme Offensive, in 1916.[22]

Zoe's Place edit

 
Zoe's Place logo

Normanby is home to Zoe's Place, one of only two baby hospices in England.[23] It offers palliative and respite care for babies and infants up to five years old, who have life-limiting or terminal illnesses.

It was opened by Ann Widdecombe in 2004. The hospice occupies the former Crossbeck Convent which was bought in 1919 to serve as a home to the Catholic religious community of the Sisters of Mercy.

Sport edit

There is a cricket club, Normanby Hall Cricket Club, alongside Normanby Hall.[24] It is a member of the England and Wales Cricket Board and has teams competing in the North Yorkshire & South Durham Premier Division, Division 1 and Sunday Division 1. At junior level, teams compete in under 11, under 13, under 15 and under 17 sections.

Normanby United Football Club was founded in 1905, it later became known as Eston United. The club was dissolved in 1927.

Notable people edit

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b UK Census (2011). "Local Area Report – Normanby Ward (as of 2011) (E05001517)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
  2. ^ "Greater Eston". Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  3. ^ "History of Normanby, in Redcar and Cleveland and North Riding". A vision of Britain through time. University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  4. ^ "No. 23014". The London Gazette. 15 September 1865. p. 4467.
  5. ^ "South Bank Town Hall". My Town My Future. 5 April 2019.
  6. ^ "Normanby Urban District Council". North-Eastern Daily Gazette. Middlesbrough. 10 January 1895. p. 3. Retrieved 27 February 2024.
  7. ^ "North Riding County Council". Yorkshire Herald. 4 May 1895. p. 13. Retrieved 27 February 2024.
  8. ^ "South Bank in Normanby". Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  9. ^ They work for you: Jacob Young, MP for Redcar https://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/25806/jacob_young/redcar
  10. ^ "Redcar & Cleveland May 2023 Election Results". May 2023.
  11. ^ "Flatts Lane Woodland Country Park" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 May 2014. Retrieved 8 May 2014.
  12. ^ Redcar and Cleveland – History of Flatts Lane
  13. ^ The Tees Link long distance path
  14. ^ "Normanby Hall History". British-history.ac.uk. Retrieved 20 January 2013.
  15. ^ "The Manor House Surgery, Normanby". Themanorhousesurgery.co.uk. 31 December 2012. Retrieved 20 January 2013.
  16. ^ Ord, John Walker (1846). "The history and antiquities of Cleveland: comprising the wapentake of East & West Langbargh ... By John Walker Ord". Retrieved 20 January 2013.
  17. ^ "Description from Bulmer's History and Directory of North Yorkshire (1890)". Genuki.org.uk. 22 January 2012. Retrieved 20 January 2013.
  18. ^ "ESTON: Geographical and Historical information from the year 1890". Genuki.org.uk. 22 January 2012. Retrieved 20 January 2013.
  19. ^ "Beamish – The Living Museum of the North: St Helen's Church, Eston". Collections.beamish.org.uk. Retrieved 20 January 2013.
  20. ^ CWGC – Graves of individual graves from the two world wars
  21. ^ Reading Room Manchester. "The Commonwealth War Graves Commission – Eston Cemetery". Cwgc.org. Retrieved 20 January 2013.
  22. ^ "Yorkshire Regiment War Graves, – Eston Cemetery". Ww1-yorkshires.org.uk. Retrieved 20 January 2013.
  23. ^ "Zoe's Place Website". Zoesplace.org. Retrieved 20 January 2013.
  24. ^ "The annual HEATS Kwik Cricket Festival at Normanby Hall Cricket Club". Gazette Live. 13 May 2013. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  25. ^ James Allen on Formula 1 website - Smedley finally makes Williams switch as head of vehicle performance.
  26. ^ "Junior Mondal". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Retrieved 16 March 2019.

External links edit

  • Normanby history group website